Machine for cutting soles or other forms



A. M. STIOKNEY. MAGHINE FOR CUTTING sows OR OTHER FORMS.

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(No Model.)

Patented Nov. 27, 1894.

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' A. M. STIOKNEY. MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES OR OTHER FORM-S.

No. 529,883. Patented Nov. 27. 1894.

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A.-M. STIGKNEY. MACHINE FOB CUTTING SOLES OR. OTHER FORMS.

Patented Nov. 27, 1894.

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MACHINE FOR CUTTINGSOLBS OR OTHER FORMS. No. 529,883.

Patented Nov. 27,- 1894.

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AFM. STIOKNEY. MAGHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES'OR OTHER FORMS.

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6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

Patented Nov. 2'7, 1894.

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A. M. STIG KNEY. MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES OR OTHER FORMS.

No. 529,883. Patented N0v. 2'7, 1894.

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" T STATES NATENT FFICE.

ALLISON MORRIS STIOKNEY, OF MEDFORD, ASSIGNOR TO THE WEIlLMAN' SOLECUTTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOLES OR OTHER FORMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,883, dated November27, 1894. Application filed June 21, 1894:. Serial No. 515,323. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALLISON MORRIS STICK- NEY, of Medford, in the countyof Middlesex and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented an ImprovedMachine for Cutting Soles or other Forms, of which the following is aspecificatin,reference being'had to' the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is an elevation of a machine embodying all the featuresof my invention Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationillustrating the meansfor driving the groovedbar by which motion is imparted to the knife carrier. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section online 4.-et of Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6 are elevations of theknife carrier.Figs. 7 and 8 are a plan and an elevation of the forms for guiding theparts of the knife carrier. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the shape of theslot for guiding the grooved bar, and the general relation of otherparts to that slot.

Machines for the purpose of cutting soles, and the like from sheetmaterial were known before myinvention; and such machines consistessentially of means for clamping the sheet material to be cut and meansfor moving and guiding a knife carrier in a desired path; but certainpractical difficulties as to moving and guiding the knife carrier and vthe knife have existed in all machines of this class known before mypresent invention, especially in machines designed for cutting sheets ofrubber compound into soles and taps for rubber boots and shoes. I

My invention consists first in means for moving the knife carrier;secondly in means for compelling the main portion of the knife carrierto move in the desired path; and thirdly in a novel connection of theknife carrier with its knife block, by which the knife blade is alwaysheld in proper position for cutting, and prevented from getting into theposition of a scraping blade instead of a cutting blade.

The frame A of my improved machine carries the bed B, upon'which thesheet material is clamped by the form' a, when the stem D is depressedbythe lovers (1 d and link (i In some machines of this class the material is clamped between the bed B and form a by raising the bed B; thatbed being lowered away from form a when the sheet material is to beplaced in the machine, and raised to clamp the material; and as to thisit is obvious that the material may be clamped in place in any suitableway.

My improved knife carrier consists of two main parts, a plate f with aspindle f secured to it, and a knife block)" upon which the knife clampis secured as described below. The spindle f of the carrier is supportedby the arms G and G so that the spindle may turn on its axis and alsomove bodily toward and from the stem D as required; for the arm G ishinged to arm G. See Fig. 1. The collar g and shoulder g prevent endwisemovement of spindle) in arm G. The stud 9 shown fast in the upper box ofarm G is in function an extension of spindle f, but for convenience ofconstruction it is made fast to arm G, for it is desirable that spindlef may be readily detached from arm G, and this is better accomplished bymaking stud g separate from spindle f, rather than by making stud g inone piece with spindle f, and making the boxes on the outer end of arm Gin two parts; which would be necessary if spindle f and stud g? were onepiece. Stud 9 enters the groove in the grooved bar H. This'grooved bar His fast to the lower plate h of a sliding frame composed of the plates hand h connected by the studs k h which carry the anti-friction rolls h hwhich move in the guide slot formed by the space between the two platesJ and J; the outer edge of plate J being parallel with the inner edge ofplate J to form that guide slot j, so that when the sliding frame(composed of plates h h and studs h W) is compelled to move the rolls hit will follow slot j, and the grooved bar H will extend across slot j.

The arms h 72. while not essential are desirable as they serve toprevent the sliding frame from cramping.

The plate J is fast to the sleeve K which is fast to the arm of frame A,andthe plate J is fast to the cover J ;'which is secured to plate J bythe screwbolts 3'. See Fig. 2. The sprocket wheel is is fast to gear iswhich is driven by pinion k which meshes with pin- G is free to turnabout stem D and the arm 1 ion it fast to pulley k so that when pulley k'is rotated sprocket wheel It is also rotated carrying with it its chain713 and causing the idler sprocket k to rotate. All these parts, K to7t" inclusive, are in prior machines, and so are the plates J and Jarranged to form a guide slot j, except. that I have modified the formofthe slotj as shown in Fig. 9.

Premising that the spindle f must be guided in some suitable way so thatit shall move in a path approximately to the outline of the sole orother article to be cut from the sheet material clamped between the forma and bed B, the first feature of my invention will now be understood;for the rotation of pulley 75 will compel the sprocket chain k to movewith its wheels 7t and 70 and as the link 7L8 connects the chain 7.:with plate 72. of the sliding frame, that frame will move with chain 7&the two rolls h 72. of the sliding frame being guided by slot j, betweenthe edges of plates J J; and consequently the grooved bar H will alsomove bodily in a path corresponding to the slotj; but it will alwaysstand across slot j, by reason of the fact that the position of thesliding frame to which bar H is fast is always controlled by the rolls h7L5 in slot j, and bar H is mounted crosswise of the sliding frame. Asthe stud g is in effect an extension of spindle f that spindle will becompelled to move with the grooved bar H, as that bar moves; but thestud g is also free to move in the groove of the bar H; and, therefore,the spindle f and stud g (which so far as their operation is concernedmay be regarded as one piece, as above stated) may move in a path whichdiffers from the path in which the sliding frame and bar'H move byreason of the movement of stud g lengthwise of bar H; and it is thiscombination of the spindle of the knife carrier with the grooved bar 11which constitutes the first feature of my invention. The main advantageof this feature of my invention is that the power to compel the spindleof the knife carrier to move in its path is always applied by the bar Hsubstantially in the line of movement of the spindle; for the bar H isalways crosswise of the line of movement of the spindle and the spindleis free to move in the groove of the bar as its line of movementrequires.

It will be obvious that the means for driving the grooved bar H may bewidely varied, but for cutting articles of sinuous outlines such assoles and taps, I prefer, to drive the bar H through the sliding frame,as shown, and to guide that frame in the peculiar path shown in Fig. 3,that shape of slot j being practically adapted for a large number ofstyles and sizes of soles and taps. The sprocket chain and its wheelsare also the most practical means, in my judgment, for driving thesliding frame; although other means are well known.

The second feature of my invention con-' sists in the combination of twoforms or patterns with three hearings on the knife carrier as the meansfor guiding the carrier in the desired path, which approximates closelyto the outline of the article to be cut. The pattern or form a, bestshown in Figs. 7 and 8, is sole shaped for a sole, or tap shaped for atap, but is larger than the form or pattern (L The three bearings m m mare provided with rollers, to lessen friction, the roller in turning ona sleeve m which rotates on spindle f but is controlled by spring m oneend of that spring being fast to sleeve m and the other end fast toplate f. The second bearing an is a roller on a stud fast to plate f,and the third bearing m is a roller on a stud fast to the arm of sleevem When these three bearings are arranged in proper relation to forms aand (b as shown in Fig. 7, the spring pressure of bearing m on the innersurface of form 01. keeps the bearing m against the outer surface ofform a and the bearing m against the outer surface of form a and therebythe spindle f and plate f of the knife carrier are compelled to travelin the desired path, which, as before stated, approximates to the exactoutline of the article tobe cut from the sheet material. In practice theform or pattern a is made to correspond in outline with the form orwhose outline is that of the article to be cut, but the form a may beused with either one of several of the forms a each of which differsslightly from the other. For example any form a suited to a certain sizeof sole may be used not only with a form a for that size and style butalso with forms a for the next succeeding or preceding sizes or ofsomewhat different styles. The form a is laid out from the form (L2 insuch a way as to make sure that the spring bearing m will keep thehearings on and m against the forms a, and a This means of guiding themain part of the carrier by three bearings and two forms gives an easymotion to the carrier and is a more efficient and smoother working waythan any other known to me.

The knife block f is connected with the plate f by means of link f whoseouter sleeve turns upon screw stud f which is fast in plate f; and whoseinner sleeve is connected with knife block f by means of screw stud f,as clearly shown in Fig. 5; but as this link connection alone wouldleave the knife block f free to move in all directions about the studsand f the knife block is also connected to the plate f by means of slidef; a tongue on one side of slide f fitting a groove in the knife block fsee Fig. 5; and a tongue on the upper side of slide f fitting a groovein plate f, see Fig. 6; and as these two tongues and their grooves arecrosswise relatively, all axial motion of the knife block is preventedwhile it is allowed to move bodily with relation to plate f, its motionbeing controlled by the contact of the blade F with the edge of form a.The spring m, one end of which is fast tothe plate f and the other endfast to the adjusting collar of link f tends to press the blade Fagainst the edge of form a, and allows blade F to yield slightly as required by the differences in outline or in size between forms a and abut as it is highly desirable that form a should be of thin sheet metal,(commonly tinned iron in factories making rubber boots and shoes) thespring m should be a light spring and it is for this reason that form ashould not vary widely from form a as above explained. The mainadvantage of this, the third feature of my invention is that the blade Fis always held in proper position for cutting, by means of slide f andits crossed ways which allow the re: quisite bodily motion of the bladeF, but prevent it from getting crosswise of the line of out; that isprevent it from getting into the position of a scraping blade and holdit always in position to out. If blade F were moved in the arc of acircle about either of the pivots f or f or about a single pivot out ofline with the cutting edge of the blade F it would be at the properposition for cutting at only one point in the arc, and would get out ofits true position for cutting more and more as it moved in its arc. Thisis a practical difficulty of much importance in all prior machines, andit is especially objectionable Where the cut must be on a level andwhere the material to be out is a sheet of rubber compound.

The blade F is held in a clamp composed of the bridle at whose threadedtang passes through the other member n of the clamp, and into the nut nso that by turning the nut in one direction, the blade is firmlyclamped; while by turning the nut in the other direction the blade isunclamped so that it can readily be removed for sharpening, andreplaced. The member n of the clamp is held to the knife block f by thescrew a and the slant of the blade F is adjusted by the screw n and theslot in n, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The form a is secured to stem Das clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where 1) represents one portion of alock, which is fast to the lower end of stem D; and 10' represents theother portion of the lock, fast to form a; the two portions being shownseparated in Fig. 8. When the heads 10 of the studs on the portion 19are inserted in the recesses p of the portion 19' fast to form a, theform is moved endwise until the bolt ptenters the bolt hole 3 The forma, is locked to the foot 19 which is fast to form a, in a similarmanner, the headed studs 12" entering slots in the foot 10, and one ofthese studs is locked in place by the spring catch 10 but these detailswill be. familiar to all skilled in the'art without further description.

What I claim as my invention is-' 1. In a machine for cutting forms fromsheet material the combination of the knife carrier; a grooved barreceiving in its groove the spindle of the knife carrier; and means formoving that grooved bar bodily in its proper path, the motion of thegrooved bar moving the knife carrier, all substantially as described.

2. The combination of the knife carrier; two forms; two bearings oneco-operating with one form, and the other with the other form; a thirdbearing; and a spring co-operating with the third bearing to keep-thetwo bearings each against its form, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the knife block; the knife carrier; a slide; waysfor the slide on the knife carrier; and ways for the slide on the knifeblock crosswise of those on the knife carrier, substantiallyas'described.

ALLISON MORRIS STIOKNEY.

' Witnesses:

JONATHAN OILLEY, JOHN R. SNOW.

